# Apache Kafka vs Inngest

| Attribute | Apache Kafka | Inngest |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 60.1 (51% (medium)) | 60.6 (74% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 88 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 1 | 2 |
| adoption.github_stars | 33,629 | 5,765 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 5,508,093 | 1,746,391 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Apache Kafka is a free system for capturing, storing, and processing data streams in real time. It enables organizations to reliably move large volumes of data between applications and systems, with support for transformations, aggregations, and stateful processing. | Provides an execution layer that automatically handles durability, retries, and state management for background jobs, scheduled tasks, and AI workflows through code-based function definitions. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","ordering":"per_partition","paradigm":"pubsub","protocol":"Binary over TCP (SSL/SASL for authentication/encryption)","message_replay":true,"persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":true,"geo_replication":true,"kafka_compatible":true,"managed_offering":false,"stream_processing":true,"delivery_guarantee":"exactly_once","horizontal_scaling":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","paradigm":"durable_exec","protocol":"HTTPS","message_replay":true,"persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":false,"kafka_compatible":false,"managed_offering":true,"stream_processing":false,"delivery_guarantee":"at_least_once","horizontal_scaling":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | 5 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Postgres"},{"name":"JMS"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"AWS S3"}]` | `[{"name":"Datadog"},{"name":"Vercel"},{"name":"OpenAI"},{"name":"Discord"},{"name":"Deno"}]` |
| language.primary | Java | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://kafka.apache.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T11:04:16.831Z"}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Hobby","summary":"Free","features":["50k executions","5 concurrent executions","500 MB span data ingested","10K scores","500k events ingested","100k queue depth","50 realtime connections","Basic tracing, metrics, and alerts","3 users","3 workers","Unlimited serverless workers"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For individual developers and small projects getting started with durable execution.","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"users":"3","events":"500k/mo","scores":"10K","workers":"3","span_data":"500 MB","executions":"50k/mo","queue_depth":"100k","realtime_connections":"50","concurrent_executions":"5"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"Starting at $99/mo + metered usage","features":["1M executions included","Pay as you go up to 20M","100+ concurrent executions","5 GB span data ingested","50K scores","5M+ events ingested","1M+ queue depth","1000 realtime connections","Granular tracing, metrics, alerts + 7 day trace retention","Increased throughput","15 users","20 workers","Unlimited serverless workers"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":99,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":25,"unit":"concurrent_execution"},"kind":"metered","amount":25,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"gb"},"kind":"metered","amount":3,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"event"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.5,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1000,"unit":"score"},"kind":"metered","amount":1.5,"currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"user","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"worker","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For growing teams building production-ready workflows with increased scale and reliability.","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"users":"15","events":"5M+/mo","scores":"50K","workers":"20","span_data":"5 GB","executions":"1M + pay as you go up to 20M","queue_depth":"1M+","realtime_connections":"1000","concurrent_executions":"100+"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing. Contact sales.","features":["Custom executions","Custom concurrent executions","Custom span data ingested","Custom scores","Custom events ingested","Custom queue depth","Custom realtime connections","Advanced tracing, metrics, alerts + 90 day trace retention","Dedicated Slack channel","SAML, RBAC, audit trails"],"description":"For organizations running critical workflows at scale with advanced security, support, and customization.","contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"HIPAA BAAs"},{"name":"Advanced observability","components":[{"kind":"one_time","amount":300,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tier available. Pro from $99/mo + metered usage.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.inngest.com/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T22:31:13.499Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.5,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 1 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.43.0","date":"2026-08-20T15:03:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.43.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.42.0","date":"2026-08-19T16:58:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.42.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.41.1","date":"2026-08-05T18:45:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.41.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.41.0","date":"2026-08-03T22:45:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.41.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.40.0","date":"2026-07-30T21:12:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.40.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.39.0","date":"2026-07-28T16:50:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.39.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.38.1","date":"2026-07-21T21:45:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.38.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.38.0","date":"2026-07-21T20:00:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.38.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.37.0","date":"2026-07-14T21:06:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.36.0","date":"2026-07-08T21:24:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.35.0","date":"2026-07-07T23:33:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.34.0","date":"2026-06-29T17:37:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.33.1-test.3","date":"2026-06-25T16:32:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.33.1-test.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.33.1-test.2","date":"2026-06-24T00:54:39Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.33.1-test.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.33.0","date":"2026-06-23T17:42:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.33.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.32.0","date":"2026-06-22T23:34:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.32.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.31.0","date":"2026-06-18T20:14:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.31.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.30.0","date":"2026-06-17T21:46:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.29.0","date":"2026-06-17T20:17:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/inngest/inngest/releases/tag/v1.28.0","date":"2026-06-16T14:09:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.28.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.1 | - |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fapache%2Fkafka&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=inngest-cli&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Message Queues)

| Capability | Apache Kafka | Inngest |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Durable execution |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | Exactly-once | At-least-once |
| Ordering guarantee | Per-partition | - |
| **Durability** |  |  |
| Durable replayable log | ✓ | ✓ |
| Message replay / rewind | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Interop** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | Binary over TCP (SSL/SASL for authentication/encryption) | HTTPS |
| Kafka-protocol compatible | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Partitioned horizontal scaling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Geo / cross-region replication | ✓ | - |
| **Consumption** |  |  |
| Consumer groups / competing consumers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Dead-letter queue | - | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Managed cloud offering exists | ✗ | ✓ |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **Processing** |  |  |
| Built-in stream processing | ✓ | ✗ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:10:08.365Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*